The Many Facets of Nishinoya Yuu
by soccer-smoothie
Summary: Asahi's thoughts on Nishinoya can range from fear to adoration, but no matter what he's feeling there's always the thought in the back of his mind that Nishinoya is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. Get-together fic, starts pre-series and leads up to series timeline. Implied Daisuga included. Happy Valentine's Day.


Nishinoya was notorious for being loud, happy, and friendly. Most everyone in the school could tell you that much-his name got around rather quickly when he first began his high school days at Karasuno. People liked to say his body's small size was to balance out with his personality. Asahi Azumane disagreed with that idea, because he thought Nishinoya's size was just as great as everything else about him; how would it balance anything out?

Even so, Asahi wasn't sure what to think of Nishinoya Yuu when they met. When he barged into the gym for the first time, volleyball tucked under his arm and a shirt that read "One Man Army" in bold letters displayed without shame, he had honestly been worried. It was hard for him to handle rambunctious people, and they usually ended up trying to pick a fight with him because of his rough look-and if one thing was for certain, it was that Asahi was too much of a baby to fight back. It usually ended up in a few bruises and a week of nightmares, and Daichi always had to come to his rescue. Very embarrassing.

Despite this underlying anxiety, though, Asahi almost immediately felt at ease when Nishinoya grinned at him. The smile was so big and genuine it looked like the small boy's face had split in half, and yet his eyes still held a look of unwavering determination and strength that Asahi had never possessed. That was the first time the ace had thought, _I didn't know someone could be that beautiful_.

The second time he was affected by beauty so intensely was about ten minutes later, when he saw the same boy receive for the first time. He decided that Nishinoya was somewhat like a wild animal, quick and intense and absolutely gorgeous in the way he moved, like every muscle in his body was going on pure instinct alone when the ball was coming down. And when practice ended, and Nishinoya ("Noya," he had insisted) immediately started praising his spikes, well...he figured he was screwed. Crushes weren't really something he was familiar with, but this was _definitely_ a crush, and he had _no clue_ how to handle it.

Of course, Asahi didn't really know how to handle anything, so no one really noticed. For a while, at least. He could only hide it from Daichi and Suga for so long, though, and eventually they started sending him knowing looks every time he got caught up listening to Noya's speeches. His two best friends didn't really mind, luckily, and despite their teasing, he was happy for their support. Not only that, but when he caught them holding hands in town one weekend, it was a lot easier to accept his own feelings as well. Knowing he wasn't alone in the experience was incredibly reassuring.

Time moved forward, and Asahi assumed he could become close friends with Nishinoya, and eventually let the feelings fade. He was right for the first part, at least. Noya and Asahi became very close, to the point of always being at each other's side, but that only made his feelings stronger. That's when Asahi started to realize that, along with his smile and his receives, Noya's never-ending loyalty was beautiful, too. He realized that having Nishinoya at his back no matter what was one of the best feelings in the world, and he never wanted to give it up, not for anything. It was a rare comfort to someone as jumpy as himself.

At the end of his second year, that changed.

Fighting with Nishinoya was one of the hardest things Asahi had ever done—he never had wanted to have the smaller boy look at him like that, eyes usually so determined instead watery and full of nothing but disappointment and _anger_, something he had never seen before. He had let Noya down, Noya had trusted him and he let him down, and so Asahi decided he couldn't play anymore. He couldn't keep disappointing the most important person to him. When the broom under Noya's foot splintered and cracked, Asahi turned away and left, and didn't look back even once on his way out because he needed to be strong, just this once. For Noya's sake, so he didn't have to depend on such a wimp of an "ace." Ending second year with Nishinoya's suspension and his quitting of the volleyball team was….disheartening, to say the least. Or well, maybe heartbreaking was a better word for it. Still, Asahi drudged on.

Third year came around, and a month came and went rather normally. It wasn't horrible—at least, not as horrible as he expected—but without Nishinoya it was like someone dimmed the lights on his world. Surprisingly enough, Asahi didn't mind. Really. Everything was fine. At least, that's what he had been telling himself when suddenly two first years started popping up to bring him back to the team. Like, over and over again. Sure, they seemed nice enough, but Asahi had told himself he didn't need volleyball—he didn't even _like_ it anymore, right? Besides, he was a failure of an ace, and no team deserved that kind of burden. He couldn't bear to face them again.

When the short first year, Hinata Shouyou, reminded Asahi how it felt to spike, he felt his resolve waver for a moment. Of course he remembered, it was a feeling he couldn't hope to forget, no matter how much he tried to convince himself. But that wasn't a reason to return, because above that feeling was that of defeat—of his spikes getting blocked one after another. Asahi felt the word "ace" rest heavily on his shoulders once more as Hinata started on his way. Then his friend—Kageyama Tobio, he recalled—turned back to him.

"It's a given you that can't win on your own. That's why there are six people on the court. I came to understand that just recently as well, though, so I can't make any arrogant comments."

It was if the title of "ace" made sense to him again, like it did before the game against Dateko. He watched the two walk away and suddenly found himself following them, walking to the gym only to see the two work in perfect unison—an amazing quick, of one he'd never seen before. A smile spread onto Hinata's face and Asahi was hit with nostalgia as he remembered the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen. Nishinoya. He was always asking him, "one more time!" just like that.

Leaving the gym was not nearly as easy as getting to it. Daichi was right behind him, apparently, and just as harsh as ever. Yet Daichi's words about Nishinoya did somewhat reassure him, and he decided that he would come back. Not that day, he wasn't ready for that yet, but he would come back.

Of course, he hadn't planned on it being so _soon_, but days later he was dragged in by coach Ukai's grandson, and then he was standing next to Nishinoya, who wasn't looking him in the eye but suddenly Asahi's world was bright again, and he felt the old fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach simultaneously with the clenching anxiety around his heart—did Noya hate him? Did he not want him to come back? Would he have been better off not being there? Asahi was tackled with memories of the fight where the broom had snapped. Could the broom be fixed? Could they be fixed?

"So one more time, call out for the toss, ace!"

And that was that.

Getting back to being with Nishinoya after the practice game was just as easy, if not easier, than getting back into the game. Noya had never been the type to hold grudges, Asahi supposed, but it was still surprising how easily he had accepted him again. It was, however, not the least bit surprising that Asahi immediately felt himself falling even harder for the libero, class time now taken up by daydreams of his smile. He had it so bad that he would get distracted during practice, which Daichi was not happy about one bit, sending dark looks his way when the volleyball hit the ground beside him instead of being received properly. His affections continued to grow, anyhow.

"Just tell him," Daichi said one day, sitting against the Sakanoshita wall, Suga leaning inconspicuously on his shoulder, "it's not like he'll reject you."

"I couldn't!" Asahi twisted his fingers, looking down at them in embarrassment, "And you couldn't possibly know that for sure. He'd probably not want to be with someone like me…"

Suga rolled his eyes, sitting up a bit straight to look at Asahi. "You know he feels the same way."

Asahi didn't answer.

Not too long afterwards, Asahi found himself in a sort of situation. The kind of situation that left his hands shaking as he attempted to properly take down the net, across from Nishinoya Yuu's energetic presence. The only other presence in the gym, actually. Nishinoya had made small talk, or as small as talk could get with the short boy, but it had quickly dwindled as they worked on cleaning up. Despite the silence, though, the stares boring into Asahi were loud enough to convey that Noya still had something he wanted to say. Asahi was just too much of a coward to ask first.

Noya was never one to hesitate for long, though, and soon the silence was broken with a confident call of the ace's name, startling Asahi enough to almost drop what he was holding. He turned to see Nishinoya walking over to him, long strides, and their eyes locked. Asahi didn't stammer; he didn't have the sense to. Not when Noya was looking at him like _that_. It was the same look he got when he was receiving. Absolutely breathtaking, even more so up close like now, with the shorter stopping in front of him and looking straight up to keep their eye contact.

"Look, I was going to wait until you stopped being a wimp about this and all, but I'm tired of it." He started, and Asahi could feel his muscles contract, shrinking in on himself to prepare for whatever was coming. It could be about their fight, something Nishinoya hadn't gotten off his chest yet. It could be something Asahi had done horribly, horribly wrong. His anxiety spiked, and Noya's face softened a little—this, too, was just another shade of beautiful.

"Calm down, big guy. It's nothing bad. Here, lean down." He said, as softly as someone like him could. Asahi's nerves did not still, but they calmed slightly with the change of tone. He did what was asked of him, leaning down to the libero's height as best as he could in this situation. Noya lifted his hand and rested it on Asahi's shoulder, looking at him in a way that could almost be considered nervous if Asahi didn't know better, before reaching the other hand up and resting it on his cheek. This was possibly the closest that had ever gotten before, and Asahi could feel his face heat up as his pulse quickened, unsure of what was about to happen until Nishinoya leaned up on his toes and kissed him, eyes squeezed shut and hands shaking. It only lasted a moment before he pulled away, landing flat on his feet once more. He looked up nervously for a moment, but Asahi immediately remedied that, leaning downwards to return the favor with a shaky kiss of his own, Nishinoya's lips bursting into a smile under his own.

Asahi realized that this, definitely, was the most beautiful thing Nishinoya had shown him yet.


End file.
